Asking people not to take photos in your ceremony - thoughts?

MrSmartprice

We don't go to many weddings, I avoid them where possible unless there is a guarantee of a good menu at the reception. The last one we attended was just after MrsS had purchased a fancy new camera and she was keen to see what it could do.

It was a church do, but nobody seemed to object to her taking lots of photos in there. She managed to take lots of really good ones over the day, including informal ones that evaded the official photographer. The couple were delighted when we sent them a disc of the pictures which they thought added greatly to the 'paid' ones.

This obsession with posting anything and everything on Facebook amazes me. Especially as most would have been taken with a phone, where the lens is the size of a pinhead. Why bother?

Kildare

I feel that a good photographer should know how to deal with these issues.

We had a civil ceremony, during which the registrar asked people not to take photos or video during the end (they asked it did not come from us, but I suspect they like to keep it feeling as official as a church wedding for a lack of better way to put it). No-one took photos or video except the official photographer until the 'fake' signing of the register at the end when they were invited forward.

Again, with the cutting of the cake, my photographer did the 'fake' cutting of the cake with no-one else in the room (they were off having welcome drinks) to get the traditional shots. Then for the official pics he invited everyone to come forward and got some great fun shots of everyone with their cameras taking pics of us.

I wouldn't ask people not take photos, but speak to your registrar and photographer if you are worried about it.

As for the facebook issue, I worry that people have friends who like to post horrible pictures of them. My friends posted pictures but they were all fun shots (us dancing, drinking etc.) the kind of stuff the official photographer doesn't catch. I loved to see all the pics popping up on facebook as they caught moments of the day that we missed.

MrSmartprice

Kildare wrote: »

We had a civil ceremony, during which the registrar asked people not to take photos or video during the end (they asked it did not come from us, but I suspect they like to keep it feeling as official as a church wedding for a lack of better way to put it). No-one took photos or video except the official photographer until the 'fake' signing of the register at the end when they were invited forward.

Not sure what you mean by a 'civil ceremony'. Is that a marriage or a civil partnership? There are no other sorts.;)

A wedding in a Register Office is as 'official' as it can get and they certainly don't make it like a church job. Rather the opposite, in fact, as all religious reference is prohibited.

Register Offices don't allow photography during the ceremony itself to avoid disturbance from what is actually happening, especially as it's all over in 10 minutes or so. A photographer lurking around is a distraction. I know our local one allow the ceremony to be video-recorded, but the camera must be mounted on a tripod and left running throughout.

What churches allow is up to them, but it is a huge money-spinner for them. From what I've heard in the past you can do almost what you like as long as you pay through the nose for it.:D

ska_lover

MrSmartprice wrote: »

We don't go to many weddings, I avoid them where possible unless there is a guarantee of a good menu at the reception.

Thats a bit tacky - you don't go unless its guaranteed you are going to get a good free meal?

katie1812

I can honestly say that in all of my 900+ wedding photos, there was not one phone or camera in them! Yet guests took photos too. Personally I wanted as many photos as possible, but understand the views of others. I was also way to excited and concentrating on my vows etc and other parts of the day to hardly notice the number of people taking photos!

74jax

MrSmartprice wrote: »

Not sure what you mean by a 'civil ceremony'. Is that a marriage or a civil partnership? There are no other sorts.;)

.:D

We had a civil ceremony, or at least that is what the registrar referred to it as and our confirmation states: Your civil registrar ceremony is a non-religious legal marriage ceremony performed by one of our government officials.

Our registrar allowed photos throughout and I love them, friends also took lots during the the ceremony and I just didn't notice.

dotchas

I love my "unofficial" pictures more than the official ones!
I read the article by the photographer and think it exaggerated a bit. I cannot see how a low power flash from a tiny camera would cause such a drastic effect. We had a photographer but all our friends were taking pics at the same time.

Kildare

MrSmartprice wrote: »

Not sure what you mean by a 'civil ceremony'. Is that a marriage or a civil partnership? There are no other sorts.;)

A wedding in a Register Office is as 'official' as it can get and they certainly don't make it like a church job. Rather the opposite, in fact, as all religious reference is prohibited."

A 'civil ceremony' is a civil marriage ceremony - sorry most of the people I know refer to weddings as either a church ceremony or a civil ceremony. A civil ceremony is also not necessarily in a registry office - mine was in a converted barn

Civil ceremonies are shorter than church ceremonies, though mine was still 30 mins as we included readings and music. I personally found the wording to be in a very similar tone to church ceremonies, but without the religious references.

Also, in my experience most churches do not allow you to do what you like. You are told there will not be photos during the ceremony and some will not allow videos of the wedding (and I mean by the offical videographer) but this is only in the experience of weddings I have attended and I'm sure varies by church. You have a lot more freedom in a civil ceremony at the venue of your choice, though again all the ones I have been to have asked guests not to take photos during the ceremony.